YuGiOh: Dark Destiny
by vsse
Summary: Yugi and co. enter a tourney, unknowingly stepping into a trap set by an old enemy. Lots of duels, R&R!
1. A Welling Evil

Hello to the people of !!!

This is my first fic, so to keep my morale up, send me lots of reviews!!! Also, I must tell you that this story takes place after the Memory Arc in Yu-Gi-Oh, which hasn't been aired yet in the U.S (it hasn't even ended in the Japanese Anime yet!!). So those who don't want to be exposed to spoilers, skip the first paragraph!!!

Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Destiny

Chapter 1: Welling Evil

It has been a week since Yugi and his friends finally recovered the Pharaoh's name, Atem, and escaped Yami Bakura and Zork's trap to change history. Now, knowing that soon Atem might take their leave of them, Yugi and co. are deep within their own feelings, while a coming evil sneaks up to its prey...

School had just ended, and spring break had started. The students poured out of Domino High, excited to have one week of freedom to do what they wanted. Only one walking figure looked down, a certain Yugi Moto.

_Sigh...its's good to know you finally have your name, Atem, _Yugi thought_._

_It is,_ _Yugi_. _Now that I have my past cleared up, I only fear for the future, _Atem thought, _when both you and I have to make our choices, and my fate is decided by those decisions._

_Yeah, _Yugi thought, _but whatever we do, you'll always be my partner, Atem, past and present._

Atem remained silent for a while.

_Well, _Atem said, _what are our plans?_

_Well, in six days, we're all going to Egypt, Atem, _Yugi replied, _where we duel to decide your fate. But Atem... Joey and the guys decided, that in those six days, we're going to make the most of those days._

_Good. Thank you Yugi, _Atem answered.

Yugi reached his house. "Hey Grandpa," Yugi shouted, "are you in?"

Grandpa Muto emerged from the store stock room, "hello Yugi, how was school?"

"The usual, Grandpa," Yugi replied.

"There's a envelope for you on the shelf, Yugi," Grandpa said, "it's from some place called Akhma Enterprises."

"Akhma Enterprises? That's funny, I've never heard of that company before," Yugi thought as he took the envelope in his hand. He opened it, and there was a letter.

_Hello Yugi,_

_I, Rames Akhma , send you a personal invitation to compete in my new Duel Monsters Tournament, entitled Duel Forteress. The rules are simple: you start out with two keys, and you ante them as you duel with other duelists until you have ten. You will need ten keys to access the Central Tower of the Forteress, where seven out of thirty-five competitors will be in the final tournament. I shall automatically be in one of the final spots._

_Enclosed is four keys, two for you, and the other two are for Joseph Wheeler. I believe he is an aquaintance of yours. The location of the tournament will be at a remote island off the coast of Hokkaido._

_Signed, Rames Akhma_

"Another tournament?" Yugi thought, "at a time like this, I'm not sure..."

_Not to worry, Yugi, _Atem said, _if there is one thing I'd want to spend time doing with you and our friends, it's dueling. Let us go to this tournament._

"Whatever you say, Atem," Yugi said.

Miles away, at the Duel Forteress, Rames Akhma stood at the balcony of the Central Tower, an insane grin on his face.

_He comes, he comes. Kill...KILL. Vengeance and power will be mine!_

Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan were up in Yugi's room, discussing the tournament.

"So, Atem wants to spend time on this tournament, huh?" Joey said, "well, if this Akhma guy knows who I am, then why not, he seems smart enough to me."

"Maybe to you, Joey," Tristan said, "but to the rest of us..."

"Hey, shut up!" Joey said.

"We'll all go to this tournament, Yugi," Tea said as the two squablled, "me and Tristan will be cheering you guys on."

"Thanks, Tea," Yugi said.

_Strange, _Atem cut in, _I have a bad feeling about this, Yugi. Like this man knows too much about us._

_I was kind of feeling the same way, Atem, _Yugi thought, _but all the same, even if we face trouble, our teamwork will always get us through._

_Very well, _Atem said, _we shall win this tournament for the both of us._

Yugi changed into Atem. "Alright," Atem said, "let's get ready."


	2. Plot Revealed, the Pyramid of Light Retu...

Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Destiny

Chapter 2: Plot Revealed, The Pyramid of Light Returns

"Well," Yugi said, "we're off."

One day after the letter arrived, Yugi and the others had gotten on a private yacht, along with several other duelists, headed for Duel Forteress Island. Tea and Tristan had used an old trick and snuck onboard via cargo box, and had met up with Yugi and Joey in the main ballroom.

"So," Joey said, "according to my calculations, it'll take us four hours to get to this here island."

"Way to go, Einstein," Tristan said.

"Let me finish!" Joey snarled, "and as I was saying, what the heck does this guy expect us to do for four hours. I mean, there isn't any food or any place to sleep on this whole yacht!"

"Joey, I think this might be a good time to open those boosters Grandpa gave us for good luck," Yugi said.

"Alright, why not?" Joey said, taking his from his pocket, "let's see what Lady Luck brought us."

Yugi opened his booster pack. It contained Union of Magicians, Poison of the Old Man, Mystical Elf, Magician's Portal, and... a Dark Magic Attack card!

"Wow, some of these cards could really help me during a duel," Yugi thought.

Meanwhile, Joey tore open his pack. "Jeez, nothing good," as he saw the first four cards: M-Warrior #1, M-Warrior #2, Legendary Sword, Remove Trap.

However, his eyes widened at the last card: a Dark Mega Flare spell card.

"Attention duelists!" Everybody turned around to see a person up on the ballroom stage, dressed in a yellow suit.

"My name is Ben Egan," the yellow-suited man said, "and I am to be your guide for this part of the trip. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for participating in this tournament. Second of all, I'd like to explain about the place you are to duel at."

"There is one important rule," Egan continued, "all duels must take place inside the forteress, so we can monitor them to assure fair play. The tournament goes like this. You're probably wondering about the keys that came with your invitation..."

Yugi suddenly heard a small noise. He turned around to see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway to the room. The figure beckoned him with one hand, inviting him outside.

"I knew something was fishy about this tournament," Yugi thought, "that figure means trouble."

_Then we shall take up on his offer and see what this is all about,_ Atem replied. (Yugi changes to Atem)

Atem followed the figure out onto the quarter deck of the boat. The figure stopped, and removed his hood. He had blond hair going down to his knees, a smirk permanently etched on his face.

"Hello, Yugi," the figure said, "or should I say, Pharaoh Atem!"

"How do you know my name?" Atem replied.

"You shall find out soon enough," the blond answered, "if you accept this duel challenge from Shu, of the Anubis Cult!"

"Anubis Cult," Atem thought, then he yelled, "then I accept your challenge! Let's duel!"

Both prepared their Duel Disks (A: 4000, S: 4000)

"I shall go first," Shu declared, drawing his card," and I shall summon Lioness Knight, in attack!" (1600/1500)

"Why would he play such a weak card in attack?" Atem wondered, "alright then, I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior and attack with it!" The magnetic soldier smashed the Lioness Knight to death with its balled-up fists. (S:3900) "I then set a card and end my turn

"Aha! When Lioness Knight gets destroyed, I get to draw an extra card during my next draw phase," Shu said, "my turn now, and the card I drew is this! Go Ferocious Lion!" (1900/1000) A lion with insanely big fangs appeared on the field.

"Attack Beta!" Shu shouted, and the lion rushed towards Beta. However, a circular pattern enveloped the Ferocious Lion, stopping its attack.

"What?" Shu yelled.

"I activated my Spellbinding Circle," Atem said, "your Lion can't move and loses 700 attack points." (Ferocious Lion: 1200/1000)

"Urgh! I set a card and end my turn." Shu stated.

"Alright, my move then," Atem said, drawing a card, "now, I activate Magnetic Attraction! It allows me summon all of my Magnetic from my monsters from my deck!" Alpha and Gamma joined Beta, and all three Magnet Warriors were on the field.

"Now, I sacrifice all three of them to summonn Slifer, the Sky Dragon!" Atem bellowed. Thunder crashed down as the God made its appearance, its red body covering the whole sky.

"As there are three cards in my hand, Slifer has 3000 attack points! Attack, my dragon," Atem yelled, "Thunder Force!"

Shu stood still. Then he began to laugh, an evil melody coming from his mouth. "You think that the Gods can harm me? I have power far beyond the God Cards! I activate my facedown card, PYRAMID OF LIGHT!!!"

"NO! It, it can't be!" Atem stuttered, thinking "how could this be? Anubis and the Pyramid of Light were destroyed!" A blue pyramid slowly formed around the two duelists, trapping them inside. Slifer roared, and suddenly burst into flames, burning into nothingness.

"Slifer! What is this madness, Shu?" Atem demanded

"I think its time I answered your question, Atem," Shu said, "very well. You see, I am a member of the Anubis Cult, a cult dedicated to Anubis, the rightful ruler of the world!"

"Anubis was a madman!" Atem cut in.

"Quiet!" Shu shouted, "that day, when Anubis was finally freed when Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle, we finally thought are dues were being paid. But then again, we didn't expect you to be released with Anubis also."

"Even then, we knew that Anubis would use Seto Kaiba and the Pyramid of Light card to kill you, and fully resurrect himself. But you and your pathetic friends survived that, and the Pyramid of Light, both the card and the artifact, were destroyed, and him as well." Shu finished.

"But what is your cult's motive? Revenge?" Atem asked.

"That is only part of it," Shu answered, "Master Akhma discovered that by sacrificing the souls of four strong-hearted duelists, Anubis could be resurrected-"

_So Rames Akhma lured us into a trap. I knew there was something up. _ Yugi thought

"So we hacked into Industrial Illusions' cardmaking program, and made many copies of the Pyramid of Light card, to use in our quest for souls."

"You and all of your cult members are mad!" Atem shouted.

"Shut up!" Shu screamed, "it is too late. Even if you defeat me, their are still other cult members mixed into the tournament that will stop you and take all of your souls!"

_I've got to beat this guy quickly and warn the others, _Yugi thought frantically. "I set a card and end my turn."

"My turn then," Shu said savagely, "now, I summon Crazy Lion!" (1000/1000) A lion foaming at the mouth came into play.

"When Crazy Lion comes into play, I get to destroy one card on the field, and that will be your facedown card!" Atem gasped as his Magic Cylinders was destroyed.

"Now, I attack with Crazy Lion!" Shu declared. Atem let out a hiss of pain as the Crazy Lion raked him across the face. (Y: 3000)

"As you know, Atem, while the Pyramid of Light is in play, not only can you not play your Egyptian Gods, but also, whenever your lifepoints go down, a piece of your soul and energy leave your body," Shu said, "but don't worry, you'll get all of it back once you win the duel. However, that's not gonna happen. My lord Anubis will be proud that I took the Pharaoh's soul!"

Atem stood up. "You are a fool, Shu," he said, "Anubis may have been mad, but he did not depend entirely on the Pyramid of Light card, unlike you. You depend on the card to protect yourself from your own mediocre dueling skills."

"How dare you!" Shu screamed madly, "I will make you regret those words. I play Soul Division! It allows me to halve your lifepoints by discarding half of my deck!" Shu put hald of his deck in the graveyard, and a beam of light cut across Atem's body.

"Urgh!" Atem groaned. (Y: 1500)

"How's that, Pharaoh?" Shu said with delight, "its a pity no one is around to see this. Unlike the first Pyramid of Light, the new ones Master Akhma created transport the participating duelists to a place called the Realm of Pyramids. We're no longer on Earth. Only the winning duelist will be able return home. I switch Ferocious Lion to defense and end my turn."

"You talk too much," Atem stated, pulling a card from his deck, "I play the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), and follow up with the card Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Next, I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards, and discard two. Finally, I'll play Dark Core. By discarding a card from my hand, I'll destroy Crazy Lion."

"So you destroyed a weak monster and drew some new cards," Shu said, "so- wait a minute, Skilled Dark Magician's ability!" Shu began to sweat profusely.

"That's right, Shu," Atem said, "for every spell card played while he is on the field, he gets a spell counter put on him. I just played three, so he gets three spell counters. With that, I tribute him to special summon the Dark Magician!" Yugi and Atem's signature card appeared, twirling his staff.

"Ha! So what?" Shu said, "I still have my Ferocious Lion for defense. My lifepoints will remain untouched!"

Atem smirked. "I think not. I'll play Magician's Portal! It allows my Dark Magician to attack you directly this turn."

"No!" Shu gasped.

"And that's not all," Atem said slowly, "he also gains 500 attack points for the turn. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Shu screamed as a bolt of magic hit him. (LP: 0000)

_We did it, Atem, _Yugi said.

"Heh...heh heh," Shu grinned insanely even as his soul started fading away, "so what if I've lost? I am only the first. Soon you will be overcome by the Cult, and power will...be..." Shu could say no more as his soul left his body.

The surroundings had gone back to normal, and Yugi was back on the yacht. Yugi pondered the words Shu had spoken.

_He said that they needed the souls of four strong-hearted duelists, _Yugi thought, _and I'll bet I know who else besides me that has that attribute._

_I know, _Atem replied, _Joey. There's no one who has a strong a heart as him._

_But that makes only two, who are the others? _Yugi thought.

_Whoever they are, Akhma has definiteley_ _invited them to this tournament, _Atem mused, _let us go back to the ballroom and warn the others._

"Right," Yugi said, and he dashed back to the ballroom.

He stepped in, and saw that someone familiar was standing next to Egan on the stage.

"Everyone," Egan said, "I introduce to you a special participant of the tournament, Seto Kaiba!"


	3. Let the Games Begin!

Hello, vsse here. I just want everyone to know, that since reviewing has been disabled for now, I won't recieve any reviews. I only ask that you remember to review once its been enabled again. Also, I have been misspelling the word Fortress, but I'm just going to ignore the mistakes of the early chapters.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Destiny

Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin!

Yugi could only stare in shock at seeing Kaiba on the yacht with them. "So he's number three!" Yugi thought, "he's one of the strong-hearted duelists Akhma is targeting!"

"Mr. Kaiba," Egan continued, "and his company have graciously donated fifty-thousand dollars to support this tournament. In addition to being a participant, he will also serve as watchman for foul play around the fortress. Many thanks to him!"

A few duelists clapped, while most preferred to glare at Kaiba, especially Joey.

"Rich sleazeball," Joey said under his breath.

"Guys!" Yugi ran up to his friends, "I have to tell you, we're all in grave danger!"

Yugi then proceeded to explain about the Anubis Cult and their intentions. Joey screwed up his face, "Geez, everytime we go somewhere there's always something after us. Go figure," he said.

"So you, Kaiba, and Joey are supposed to be the ones Akhma is after," Tea said, "but who's the fourth?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're gonna find out soon," Yugi said, "but first, we gotta warn Kaiba!"

Backstage, Kaiba walked back into his private room, and was met by Mokuba.

"Did everyone love, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"Bah, I need nothing from those fodder," Seto said, "except for Yugi."

"Aww, c'mon, be nice, Seto. By the way, are you going to use that new card against him, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

Before Seto could answer, Yugi burst into the room, closely followed by Joey, Tristan, and Tea.

"Yugi!" Seto exclaimed, "what-"

"No time to explain, Kaiba!" Yugi said, "listen, Kaiba, we're in danger. These Akhma guys are after our souls!"

"Hah, more of that superstitious stuff," Seto snickered, "listen, Yugi, I funded part of this tournament for one reason: the opportunity to duel you once again, and to get my hands on the card Akhma Enterprises made so kindly for me."

"New card?" Yugi said, "Kaiba, these guys are supporters of Anubis, the guy who manipulated you to use the Pyramid of Light against me, and nearly killed both of us in the process! You're just being used again!"

"Quiet, Yugi," Seto said sharply, "I get used by no one. Besides, you're just afraid that the card they gave me will defeat you, just like the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon did."

"Kaiba!" Yugi started, but Kaiba cut him off, "Now, get out of my room before I call security."

"What? Bring them on then, Kaiba!" Joey huffed, but Yugi and Tristan dragged him out of the room.

They all stood outside the door silently. "Well," Yugi said, "we can't count on Kaiba being safe. It seems that we'll just have to make sure we last until the tournament finals, Joey. We can then defeat Akhma there, and free any souls he's taken."

"Right Yuge," Joey grinned, "bring them all on!"

A voice came over the intercom, "All duelists!" it said, "we are landing now. Prepare to disembark!"

"Let the games begin," Yugi thought.

A few minutes later, everyone was inside the Fortress. It was huge; the battlements were as high as a four-story building, and the area it accumulated was almost two football fields in both length and width. But the real wonder was the Central Tower in the middle of the courtyard. It seemed to be made of gold, shining with brilliance, spanning over six stories high.

Yugi stood with Joey and the others, planning. It was nearly noon.

Egan stood up on a platform, "All right, duelists, it's time! Dueling will officially begin in...five...four...three...two...one...BEGIN!"

Yugi changed into Atem and readied his Duel Disk. "Alright, guys," he said, "Tristan will go with Joey, and Tea will go with me. Joey, once you have enough keys, meet me at the Central Tower base."

"Got it," Joey said, putting on his Duel Disk, "let's go!"

Joey and Tristan headed off. "OK, Tea," Atem said, "we'll start off in the middle of the courtyard. That'll lure a cult meber out."

"Atem, are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Tea asked.

"No doubt, all of them have a copy of the Pyramid of Light card," Atem said, "the key to getting my soul and making my God Cards useless. However, there is also no doubt that most of them will rely on its power too much. That's their weak spot."

"That's right," a voice cut in. Atem turned to see a figure. He had dark hair and a mellow brown eyes. He was dressed in a blue sweatshirt, with a white shirt underneath and jeans, with a red necklace around his neck. He was about sixteen years old.

"Are you another one of the cult members?" Atem demanded.

"Quite so. And no so." the figure laughed, "you see, it is none other than I, Rames Akhma!"

"What! You!" Atem quickly drew his Duel Disk, "let's finish this right now!"

"Patience, Atem," 'Akhma' replied, "you see, I am just using this body as a puppet, to test your power. This was made possible by the Pyramid of Light card's power. Poor thing. That very card sucked out his strong-hearted soul too."

"Strong-hearted? You mean..." Atem said.

"That's right, Pharaoh," Akhman laughed, "I already have one the souls I need to resurrect Anubis. And the one I felt the most threat from, too!"

"Hm, afraid of innocent teenagers, Akhman?" Atem said, "then I can only guess what you fear of me."

"This boy was far from innocent!" Akhman thundered, "this boy is known as Reuben, the incarnation of the sorceror that helped you defeat Anubis five-thousand years ago!"

"An incarnation?" Atem stared, so he hadn't been Anubis' only enemy after all.

"Unfortunately, the boy had just learned this from who you know as Ishizu Ishtar, when I, in person, showed up and defeated him a few days ago. Now he is mine to control!" Akhma laughed.

Atem stirred with anger, "Taking people's souls, and using them as puppets," he seethed, "Akhma! I will make a wager with you! If I defeat you, you will give this boy his soul back, and you disappear from his body!"

"Very well," Akhman said, "however, if I win, not only will I get your soul, but you must give me the right to take the souls of Wheeler and Kaiba in the process!"

"Deal!" Atem thundered, "but I assure you, I will NOT lose!"

"Duel!" (Y: 4000 A: 4000)

The whole place was quite. No one was around, as many duelists had headed out of the courtyard to explore the Fortress.

"This boy's deck proved to be quite formidable," Akhma drawled as he drew his card, "however, I could not trust a deck made by an enemy, so I replaced his deck with one of my own! Go, Sonic Bird!" (1400/1000)

"That card allows you to put a ritual magic card from your deck to your hand," Atem mused.

"I then end my turn!" Akhma said.

"No facedown cards? How uncautious!" Atem said, "I play Opticlops, and attack!" (Opticlops: 1800/1700). The cyclops easily throttled the bird with its hands.

"Such is only a graze," Akhma said, (LP: 3600), "I'll next play Senju of the Thousand Hands! in attack mode!" A deity with many arms appeared on the field, "this card will let me get a ritual monster from my deck to my hand. I end my turn."

"What is Akhma up to?" Atem wondered, "he keeps playing weak monsters with no support at all. He is building something up in his hand, I am sure of it."

Atem drew, "I'll set a card facedown, and summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200)! My Opticlops attacks your Senju, and Gazelle with attack you directly!"

Akhma winced as his life points decreased drastically. (LP: 1700)

"Fine! Then I'll begin my retaliation!" Akhma roared, "I'll first set a card, then play the card The Greed of a King, which allows me to draw two cards! Next, I'll discard a Flaming Cerebrus from my hand to use the card Hamburger's Recipe, to summon Hungry Burger!" A gargantuan burger appeared out of a gigantic cooking pot, its mandibles snapping with sharpened teeth.

"Hungry Burger, eat that Gazelle to bits!" Akhma ordered, and the Burger lurched forward.

"Not so fast, Akhma," Atem stated, "I shall activate my facedown card, Energy Drain! This card will add to Gazelle's attack points by 200 times the number of cards in your hand, and you have three cards, giving my Gazelle 600 attack points!" (Gazelle: ATTK 2300) The Gazelle counter-attacked, slashing the Burger through its jaws and out back.

"Damn!" Akhma muttered. (LP: 1400)

"You are making this all too easy, Akhma!" Atem shouted, "I expected more from you!"

"And I expected more alertness from you, Atem!" Akhma shouted, "I now play the field card, Tomb of Rituals!"

"Wha-?" Atem managed to say before the whole place was engulfed into darkness. Suddenly, around them sprang a circle of lit candles, and Atem could see that they were in a place that looked like the inside of a Pharaoh's tomb. Hieroglyphics painted the walls, and Akhma stood facing him, next to a sarcophagus.

"Quite a place to die, eh, Pharaoh?" Akhma said, "this card gives me the ability to summon any ritual monster card from my hand without fulfilling its special requirements! Hahahahahaha!"

"No! This is serious," Atem thought, "the power of ritual monsters are balanced by their requirements. Now, Akhma can summon them at will!"

"Its over, Pharaoh," Akhma spoke softly, "I will take the souls of everyone, and my great ancestor Anubis will finally reign!"

"WHAT?" Atem thought, "Anubis..has..a descendant?"

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN! Cliffhanger!

Next Episode: Atem struggles against 'Puppet' Akhma, and just when things start turning around, Akhma activates the Pyramid of Light! Will our hero go to an early grave? Is there any hope left for Yugi and Atem?

See on Chapter 4: Kuriboh Combo, Infinite Assault!


	4. Kuriboh Combo, Infinite Assault!

Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Destiny

Chapter 4: Kuriboh Combo, Infinite Assault!

The top floor of the Central Tower..., Master Bedroom

Looking into the room, you'd think you had stepped into the bedroom of a king. Velvet carpet, cultural objects everywhere, a plush king-sized bed, and a gigantic monitoring and communications console at the far side of the room.. What you wouldn't know was that a great evil inhabited the room.

Rames Akhma sat in a chair, his body seemingly without a soul. A copy of the Pyramid of Light was held in his hand...

Yugi: 4000 Akhma: 1400

Tea, who had stood aside up until now, yelled, "Atem, don't let that guy beat you! Don't let him get away with that poor guy's soul!"

"Urgh! I'm utterly confused," Atem thought, "to think that Anubis had a descendant...and at the same time, an incarnation of an ally of my past? There are too many things coming at me at once!"

Akhma grinned, "now with the effect of the Tomb of Rituals card, I summon Crab Turtle from my hand!" A gigantic turtle hybrid of a crab burst forth from a sealed rock, its menace filling the air, "and since I have already passed my battle phase, I end my turn!"

Atem gritted as he drew his card, "I can't lose this duel, or Akhma will have all the souls I wagered on this duel, and the little one won't be saved!"

Atem looked at the body Akhma had possessed for this duel, Reuben. "If I can save him," he thought, "I'd have an ally on my side that wants to get Akhma just as much as I do."

"Come on, Pharaoh," Akhma crowed, "stalling won't help you."

"I switch Gazelle and Opticlops to defense, and also set a monster facedown," Atem said, "turn end."

"It's time for payback for what you did to my ancestor," Akhma snarled, "I now pay 500 life points (A: 900) to activate Tomb of Rituals' second effect! I can revive one of my ritual monsters from the graveyard!" The Hungry Burger card reemerged on the field.

"Hungry Burger, Crab Turtle, attack his monsters!" Atem winced as his remaining defense was destroyed.

"I then set another card, and end my turn!" Akhma cackled.

Nervously, Atem drew his next card, "All right!"

"What!?" Akhma exclaimed as Swords of Revealing Light encased his monsters, sealing them for three turns. "Just as I had him cornered..."

"I'm safe for now," Atem thought, "but I'll need to find a way to destroy that Tomb of Rituals card before it gets out of hand."

"Damn!" Akhma cursed under his breath, "no matter! I will first special summon Dancing Soldier from my hand!" A woman in an Arabian dancer's garb appeared. (1950/1850)

"Just one more ritual monster," Akhma thought, "I then activate my facedown card, Gift of the Mystical Elf! For every monster in play, I gain 300 LP (A: 1800)! I also activate my other facedown card, Phasing Light!"

_I've never heard of that card before, _Yugi thought.

"No doubt," Atem said, "that his little cult made a few new cards of their own when they hacked into Industrial Illusions' card database."

"I know what you're thinking, Atem," Akhma said, "and you're right! This card was designed by yours truly and made real by Pegasus' technology! This card makes you discard your hand, in exchange for me paying half of my LP (A: 900)."

"Blast..." Atem thought as he discarded his hand.

"Your turn, Atem" Akhma said.

"Then I shall counter with Queen's Knight in attack mode (1500/1600)," Atem said, "and I'll flip up my facedown monster, King's Knight! (1600/1400). With both of them on the field, I can special summon Jack's Knight from my deck!" (1900/1400)

"Next turn, I can summon a God Card from my hand," Atem thought, "the Winged Dragon of Ra. Akhma won't be expecting it with the show I've put on so far."

"So you have three weak monsters," Akhma simpered, "My turn now." He drew his card. He grinned.

"I've drawn my ultimate monster!" Akhma proclaimed.

"What?" Atem gasped.

"First, I special summon Black Luster Soldier from my hand," Akhma said, as a navy-armored soldier made its appearance.

"Then, I use the card Polymerization!"

"No!" Atem shouted as the four ritual monsters of Akhma melded together, and something massive took its place. A gigantic serpent-like creature, covered in dark scales. Its fangs were as big a person, its build as tall as skyscraper.

"Behold!" Akhma proclaimed, "the Serpent Lord of Rituals (5000/5000)!"

"What is this beast?" Atem wondered.

"Allow me to explain," Akhma said, "this thing cannot attack the turn it comes out, but has five special abilities. First, all spells and traps on your side of the field, so say farewell to your swords!"

"Urgh!" Atem gritted as his only means of protection was destroyed.

"Second, its gains 300 attack points for each monster on your side of the field (5900/5000). And third, it can't be affected by magic or traps." Akhma finished.

"And the fourth and fifth?" Atem questioned.

"I'll leave that to you to find out," Akhma whispered.

"Fine!" Atem thundered, thinking, "now, I can sacrifice all my Knights to summon Ra, and use his special ability to destroy both himself and the Serpent."

"I now tribute my three Knights!" Atem yelled, but stopped, staring, "Wha-?"

Indeed, the Knights stayed on the field.

"But how?" Atem exclaimed.

"The Serpent's fourth ability," Akhma explained, "you can't tribute your monsters for any reasons whatsoever! Did you really think I was oblivious of your plan, Pharaoh? Fool!" he laughed.

"This is not good," Atem thought, "I switch all my Knights to defense mode, and end my turn."

"You're minutes away from your demise, Pharaoh," Akhma said, drawing, "I activate my facedown card, Pyramid of Light!"

"Damn! Everything just keeps getting worse!" Atem thought as they were transported to the Realm of Pyramids.

"Yugi! Atem!" Tea managed to cry out before she was knocked back. When she got up, she could see no one, but knew they were there.

"Please be safe," she thought.

"Another mystery," Atem thought, examining his surroundings, in which they seemed to be floating in space, surrounded by pyramids, "the Realm of Pyramids. What exactly is this place?"

"Sorry, Pharaoh," Akhma snickered, "but I'll tell you what. If you or your friends manage to defeat me in the finals, I'll tell you all you have to know. Now, I'll show you my Serpent's fifth and final ability!"

_Brace yourself, Atem, _Yugi shouted.

"He can attack all of the monsters on your field!" Akhma shouted, "Fire of the Cosmos!"

The Serpent reared up, and engulfed Atem's monsters in a field of flame. Atem stared hopelessly.

"And that's not all!" Akhma said, "you also lose 1000 LP for every monster it destroys!" (Y: 1000).

Atem sunk to his knees. He was finished. He had no way of defeating this beast without the God Cards.

_Don't give up, Atem! _Yugi cried from inside the Puzzle.

"But, Yugi," Atem said, "it is hopeless."

_No, it isn't, _Yugi shouted, _remember all those times where it seemed we were finished? We got out of those jams, because we didn't give up! Remember that, Atem?_

Atem did remember. He thought of Pegasus, Duke, Kaiba, Marik, and Dartz. Finally, he stood up.

"I will now draw!" Atem declared, "please, Heart of the Cards, guide me." He drew.

Atem looked at his card, and smirked, "I play the card Ancient Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw three cards!" Atem drew, looked, and proclaimed, "I win."

"What? Impossible!" Akhma laughed.

"I don't think so," Atem said, "first, I play Kuriboh, in attack!" (300/200)

"Have you lost your mind?" Akhma guffawed, "such a weak monster, not even worthy to show its face to me!" The Kuriboh made an angry face and puffed up.

"Next," Atem smittered, "I play the card Multiply, which allows me to multiply my Kuriboh by the minute!" All of a sudden, at least a hundred Kuribohs emerged on the field.

"More fodder," Akhma thought, "what is he up to?"

"Then, I play coup de grace," Atem said, "the spell card Sacrifice Assault!"

"No!" Akhma gasped as Atem placed the card in his Duel Disk, "that card, its supposed to be one of the rarest, how-"

"This card requires me to tribute at least 10 monsters to activate," Atem explained, "but in return, every card on your side of the field is destroyed, even your magic-impervious Serpent! And finally, your LP automatically goes to 0."

"No, wait, stop," Akhma begged, but in vain.

"Go, all of my Kuriboh!" Show him your might!" Atem ordered, and the Kuribohs charged Akhma's field. The Serpent roared as barrage after barrage of Kuriboh exploded against it, and reared up and blew into bits of flesh. Akhma screamed as the remaining Kuriboh blew up the area he was standing in. (Akhma: 0000)

When the dust cleared, Atem could see they were back on Earth. He saw that Reuben's body was slumped on the ground, glowing as Akhma's control over him was extracted.

"Damn you, Pharaoh Atem!" Akhma's voice cut through the air, "you may have defeated me this time. But this was just the testing round. I will make sure your bloody corpse is around to see the resurrection of Anubis!" With that, Akhma left Reuben's body.

Atem changes to Yugi

"Yugi!" Tea came running over, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yugi said, "but that Reuben guy, let's go help him."

Yugi shook Reuben's shoulder, "Hey, are you alive? Answer me, please!"

Reuben slowly opened his eyes. He pushed himself up. "What happened?" he asked.

"Oh, I remember now," Reuben thought, "that Ishizu person told me about me being some kind of sorcerer...then that Akhma guy beat me...aw geez, my head!"

"There's been a lot happening while you've been sleeping around," Yugi said, "my name's Yugi, and this is Tea."

"Hey guys," Reuben said, slowly getting his bearings, "the name's Reuben Kaine. Before anything else, tell me what the hell is happening?"

Yugi then preceded to tell Reuben of his predicament. Reuben's eyes widened,"so the Anubis Cult's behind this.."

"You knew of the Anubis Cult?" Tea asked.

"Yes. You see," Reuben explained, "I'm a scholar of Egyptian History and Mythology, and its common for me to stumble upon supernatural theories about the Egyptians, and I didn't believe any of them. Until I saw a picture of you on the _Duelist Magazine,_ Yugi." Yugi wasn't surprised. Like it or not, he was famous.

"I now knew that if the Millennium Puzzle was real, some of the other theories may have been for real, too," Reuben continued, "and so I first began with the tale of a young pharaoh facing a sorcerer named Anubis, and I believe you know the rest of that story Yugi, and you too, Atem."

"Actually, no," Yugi said, looking down, "that's the only memory Atem and me haven't remembered yet."

"I see," Reuben mused, "we'll get to that later. Anyway, later I heard rumors about a huge blue pyramid appearing in one of Kaiba's facilities. Once again, I used my research to theorize it was the work of Anubis of some sort."

"That's right," Yugi said, "Anubis managed to temporarily revive himself and tried to kill everyone."

"Well anyway, soon after, I used my sources from the university my Dad works at to find out about the rumor of the Cult of Anubis, and their motives. Since only I knew that this was true, I then resolved to stop them from resurrecting Anubis," Reuben said, "and that's when Ishizu Ishtar came to me at the Domino Museum while I was researching. She told me how my duty to stop the Cult was tied to me being the sorcerer who helped the Pharaoh. That was then when Akhma challenged me to a 'friendly duel". The next thing I knew, I was here.

"Hmm," Yugi mused, "it seems that Akhma know more about our pasts with Anubis better than us. Our only chance is for us to duel our way to the top, Reuben!"

"Fine, I will join your team, Yugi," Reuben said, "but without a deck, I..." he suddenly felt something in his back pocket. He pulled out a deck box.

"My deck!" Reuben cried happily, "Akhma must have never thought to remove it!"

"This is great," Yugi thought as Reuben pranced around, "we've beaten Akhma in the first round, and now we've got a new friend."

_True, Yugi, _Atem said, _however, I have a feeling that Akhma wasn't throwing all his weight against us that duel. Next time won't be so easy._

Akhma crushed the Pyramid of Light in his land. "Damn Yugi," he snarled, "I've lost one soul that I need! Well, he won't get away that easily! My best duelists have already targeted him, and are heading his way. And even should they fail, I already have a back-up plan."

Akhma turned and swept away from his office.

Next Episode: Joey, while still trying to figure out the Fortress' locations, encounters Mickey Hart, the Aussie duelist! Will Joey be able to take the Outback Fury Deck?

Chapter 4: Crocs and Koalas


End file.
